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As of 7 p.m., about 3,200 people remained without power, down from about 40,000 Friday, when 60 to 70 mph winds swept through Vermont and New York. Winds gusted on Mount Mansfield up to 125 mph.

Utility crews were out in full force Saturday and they planned to work throughout the night as temperatures drop.

“My windows were rattling. My house was rattling, and I immediately leashed all the dogs to coral them and put them into the bathroom,” said Carol Weiland of Salisbury.

Her home was spared by falling trees. Thankfully she, her dogs and her chicken coop survived the hurricane-force winds, though they may not have power for days.

“It's inconvenient but it's doable,” Weiland said. “I'm prepared for not having power.”

It’s a similar story for Maurice Rheaume. His home in Salisbury also has no lights.

“You could hear the trees crashing in the woods,” he said. “I've lived in Middlebury and this area for all my life. I've never seen it like this.”

Neighbors said the wind was so bad, they said Friday’s storm was worse than Superstorm Sandy in October.

The wind so bad, police believe it may be responsible for the death of a man along Route 7 in Middlebury. Officials said a tractor-trailer, likely pushed by the wind, collided with the man’s vehicle, killing him.

Tree limbs and wires dot many of the roads along the western slopes of the Green Mountains.

Green Mountain Power brought in an extra 250 linemen and tree trimmer. Crews expect to get down to about a thousand outages by the end of the weekend, but the last couple hundred will be hard to get back online, officials said.

“Some of the last ones to come back on will be the ones that require hours of work to sometimes bring on just one or two customers at a time,” said GMP spokeswoman Dorothy Schnure.

With thousands without power, heat may be the issue Saturday night.

“We are reaching out to areas where we expect it's going to be hardest to get the power back on,” Schnure said. “We actually have employees going out to let them know safety information.”

For Weiland, she said she has never seen anything like Friday’s freak storm, and after other deadly weather events, she said, “I feel thankful, frankly.”

The wind was not as friendly to Hannah Davidson of Neshobe Farms. It tore of the plastic covering to her greenhouse.

“It’s a financial hardship for sure,” Davidson said. “It wasn't in the business plan for this year, but better lose the plastic than the whole house.”

Melody Perkins of Ferrisburgh did not lose power, but she said it is an unfortunate thing to happen just before the holiday.

“You have to worry about food loss, so people have done their shopping and preparation for big meals, so there's an economic component to this too,” Perkins said.